Alcohol Calories?

So I know that people say that you need to log alcohol calories the same as you would food and account for it in your daily allowance, I maybe pushing my luck here but I dont think it works the same as food.
My start weight was 192lb im now at 148lb, I am 5ft 4 and I eat around 1300-1500 calories a day. I have drank alcohol most weekends without counting (sometimes stupid amounts- dont judge) and still lost weight just fine. This is providing that I dont eat loads of crap the day after when hungover.
I am just looking to see if this is the case for anyone else, or am I just odd?
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Replies

  • Lynzdee18
    Lynzdee18 Posts: 500 Member
    I can't lose if I drink too. So I don't drink, except the odd glass of wine, or Miller64 with Lime Sparkling Ice to mimic a margarita....
  • xjessicaxrx
    xjessicaxrx Posts: 144 Member
    edited August 2016
    Well I drank 2 bottles of wine last night and godknows what else because I dont remember, but my weight is still the same today? I would have thought that there was too many calories in wine (if counting) for that to be actually possible? I ate a normal amount of food during the day so my food calories were ok, not under.
  • xjessicaxrx
    xjessicaxrx Posts: 144 Member
    No not really I was just at a family garden party. I always drink a lot of water anyway but I woke up in the night twice and drank a full pint of water each time?
  • fr33sia12
    fr33sia12 Posts: 1,258 Member
    The weight gain may show in a few days, just like your weight doesn't show when it goes down straight away, it doesn't go up straight away either.
  • xjessicaxrx
    xjessicaxrx Posts: 144 Member
    I weigh myself everyday and have done for over 6 months. Its as if the alcohol doesn't affect my weight, the scales behave the same on a daily/ weekly basis wether iv had a drink that particular week or been completely tea total :)
  • fr33sia12
    fr33sia12 Posts: 1,258 Member
    You must be one of the lucky ones then, like people who say they can eat and eat and never gain weight ;)
  • xjessicaxrx
    xjessicaxrx Posts: 144 Member
    Oh dont get me wrong food gets me every time! If I end up getting a greasy kebab on my way home from a night out thats a different story haha! My weight losses have slowed down recently but I put that down to me being lighter.
  • fr33sia12
    fr33sia12 Posts: 1,258 Member
    Oh dont get me wrong food gets me every time! If I end up getting a greasy kebab on my way home from a night out thats a different story haha! My weight losses have slowed down recently but I put that down to me being lighter.

    Ah we get to it now, so you're still losing, but not as much and put that down to weighing less. Maybe it is down to the alcohol calories too and if you hadn't drunk all those calories you would have lost a lot more.
  • xjessicaxrx
    xjessicaxrx Posts: 144 Member
    Well I drank 2 bottles of wine last night and godknows what else because I dont remember, but my weight is still the same today? I would have thought that there was too many calories in wine (if counting) for that to be actually possible? I ate a normal amount of food during the day so my food calories were ok, not under.

    Two bottles of wine plus more? Your poor liver. Forget about weight for the moment, have you considered the long term impact on your health due to binge drinking?

    Nah, I dont do it very often. I barely drink at all anymore to be fair, maybe once a month if that.
  • xjessicaxrx
    xjessicaxrx Posts: 144 Member
    fr33sia12 wrote: »
    Oh dont get me wrong food gets me every time! If I end up getting a greasy kebab on my way home from a night out thats a different story haha! My weight losses have slowed down recently but I put that down to me being lighter.

    Ah we get to it now, so you're still losing, but not as much and put that down to weighing less. Maybe it is down to the alcohol calories too and if you hadn't drunk all those calories you would have lost a lot more.

    I lose on average 0.5 - 1lb per week regardless, when I was fatter it was more like 2-3lb per week.
  • jcow84
    jcow84 Posts: 75 Member
    How old are you? Some people's bodies are a lot more forgiving when they're younger but bad habits catch up eventually.
  • Woodspoon
    Woodspoon Posts: 223 Member
    so 2 bottles of wine were consumed and no weight went on?
    Nah, don't think so
    even if it were just water, weight would go on, because the liquid itself weighs something.
  • xjessicaxrx
    xjessicaxrx Posts: 144 Member
    fr33sia12 wrote: »
    Well I drank 2 bottles of wine last night and godknows what else because I dont remember, but my weight is still the same today? I would have thought that there was too many calories in wine (if counting) for that to be actually possible? I ate a normal amount of food during the day so my food calories were ok, not under.

    Two bottles of wine plus more? Your poor liver. Forget about weight for the moment, have you considered the long term impact on your health due to binge drinking?

    Nah, I dont do it very often. I barely drink at all anymore to be fair, maybe once a month if that.
    But in your original post you say you drink most weekends and don't put on weight. Now you say you only drink once a month.

    In my OP I was generalising, before last night its been 4 weeks since I last had a drink. But in the past there have been a few weekends on the bounce where iv dared to enjoy life yes. The only time iv ever noticed a difference on the scales is when iv eaten loads the next day. When I eat normally it is fine!
  • xjessicaxrx
    xjessicaxrx Posts: 144 Member
    Woodspoon wrote: »
    so 2 bottles of wine were consumed and no weight went on?
    Nah, don't think so
    even if it were just water, weight would go on, because the liquid itself weighs something.

    Are you calling my scales a liar? Haha I do pee alot too :)
    I am 26.
  • errollmaclean
    errollmaclean Posts: 562 Member
    As you lose wieght your deficit gets smaller and smaller, so at a heavier weight you have more room for error and still be able to lose. You've managed to still stay at a deficit. Closer to your goal weight you'll find that you have to be very accurate.
  • pdm3547
    pdm3547 Posts: 1,057 Member
    Woodspoon wrote: »
    so 2 bottles of wine were consumed and no weight went on?
    Nah, don't think so
    even if it were just water, weight would go on, because the liquid itself weighs something.

    Are you calling my scales a liar? Haha I do pee alot too :)
    I am 26.

    They could be.

    Are you using newish scales on a level, firm surface in the same place and weighing yourself at the same time each day?
  • corsayre8
    corsayre8 Posts: 551 Member
    There are to many factors to give an accurate response, (tho I'm not really sure that is what you are looking for).

    But say you still have your deficit set to lose 2 pounds a week, or -1000 a day. Your average bottle of wine is +/- 625 calories. 625x2=1250. 1250-1000=250. 250/3500= 0.0714.

    So hypothetically drinking two bottles might only put you 250 calories over your maintenance, which theoretically would only cause you to gain .07 of a pound. And those 250 calories could easily be burned off by the extra activity of staying active later in the night.

  • Woodspoon
    Woodspoon Posts: 223 Member
    Woodspoon wrote: »
    so 2 bottles of wine were consumed and no weight went on?
    Nah, don't think so
    even if it were just water, weight would go on, because the liquid itself weighs something.

    Are you calling my scales a liar? Haha I do pee alot too :)
    I am 26.

    Liquid weighs, unless you pee out 2 bottles worth of wine in one night, which is quite a bit, the weight is going to be there and that's without including the calories from the drink.
    I know my my weight fluctuates about 5lb a week just from liquid intake and expulsion alone.
  • xjessicaxrx
    xjessicaxrx Posts: 144 Member
    pdm3547 wrote: »
    Woodspoon wrote: »
    so 2 bottles of wine were consumed and no weight went on?
    Nah, don't think so
    even if it were just water, weight would go on, because the liquid itself weighs something.

    Are you calling my scales a liar? Haha I do pee alot too :)
    I am 26.

    They could be.

    Are you using newish scales on a level, firm surface in the same place and weighing yourself at the same time each day?

    No they are the same scales which I have had since starting, they never move from the same spot on my tiled bathroom floor. I always weigh myself in the morning after using the toilet.

    My deficit is set to lose 1lb per week, I am only short at 5ft 4 so maintenance is around 1900 calories per day. I definitely ate 1400 yesterday maybe even a bit more because the food was provided at the party (cheese & onion pie) so that was estimated as I didnt cook and weigh it myself as I normally would.

    I was looking to see if anybody else is the same and finds this themselves, obviously not judging by the amount of comments trying to contradict me and telling me I must be wrong / deluded lol!
  • pdm3547
    pdm3547 Posts: 1,057 Member
    I was looking to see if anybody else is the same and finds this themselves, obviously not judging by the amount of comments trying to contradict me and telling me I must be wrong / deluded lol!

    Not sure anyone is doing that, but 2 bottles ( 3 pints) of wine contains about 1200 calories. As long as you are that far within your deficit, then it won't make you put on weight. It might slow you down though.

    (Incidentally, I find that I might have lost weight after a good sesh but only because I'm dehydrated.)
  • Asher_Ethan
    Asher_Ethan Posts: 2,430 Member
    I understand what you're saying about alcohol calories. When you weigh yourself tomorrow, you'll probably be a pound or 2 heavier than today as you were probably a little dehydrated this morning (even with all the water you drank).
    In the beginning of my weight loss journey I felt alcohol calories may be wrong, like you do. But towards the end I noticed the scale wasn't moving. Once I started accounting more for alcohol I started losing again. I hope this helps.
  • littefish2018
    littefish2018 Posts: 96 Member
    edited August 2016
    good luck!
  • Shana67
    Shana67 Posts: 680 Member
    OP, I drink every single day and have lost 37 lbs since January. I have to measure what I drink every evening, but occasionally I do go all crazy. As long as you are at a deficit, you'll lose weight.

    Just don't be like one of my formerly close girlfriends. All she ever did was drink - no eating - and she lost massive amounts of weight. However, she also became anorexic, and even after recovery is a miserable person. Watch out for that ;)